The present invention relates to cyclonic separators for separating solid particles from a fluid. The invention is particularly applicable in cyclonic separators, sometimes called hydrocyclonic separators, for separating dirt and other solid particles from irrigating water, and is therefore below with respect to this application.
Most irrigation systems require filters or other forms of separators for removing the dirt particles from the irrigating water in order to prevent clogging of the irrigation devices, such as sprinklers, sprayers and drippers, used in the irrigation system. A large number of separators are known for this purpose. One known type is the cyclonic or hydrocyclonic separator, in which a vortex is produced within a chamber to separate the solid particles by centrifugal action. The conventional manner of producing the vortex is to introduce the fluid tangentially to the chamber.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel cyclonic separator having advantages over the known separators in a number of respects to be described more fully below.